Ten years of the APB: One practitioner's appraisal;

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TEN YEARS
OF THE APB
One Practitioner's Appraisal
An address by
Robert M. Trueblood,
at the American Accounting Association
Annual Meeting at the University of Notre Dame,
South Bend, Indiana / August 27, 1969
In the fine arts, a critic would not attempt an ap­praisal
of a painter's work on the basis of a productive
period of only five or ten years. And a painter or sculp­tor
would not himself contemplate a retrospective
show without 20 or 30 years of production behind him.
I have been asked, in effect, to do a retrospective
evaluation of the Accounting Principles Board's ten-year
history. Such an appraisal, I think, cannot be done
with fairness unless one extends the range of his view
to the profession's performance in accounting prac­tice
and theory over a larger period—starting, say,
with the years 1932 to 1934.
As it happens, I made my choice of accounting as a
career around that time—during the mid-30's. So I
have had the privilege of being involved in the profes­sion
during a period of exceptionally significant devel­opment.
It was in the early 30's that the American
Institute, the New York Stock Exchange, and the Gov­ernment
exchanged ideas about enlargement of the
profession's role. And the ensuing span of three-and-a-
half decades has witnessed, among other important
things, the work of the Committee on Terminology, the
Committee on Accounting Procedure, and the Account­ing
Principles Board.
In my judgment, the most important single event af­fecting
the profession during my professional career
has been the SEC's decision that the profession should
assume primary responsibility for establishing ac­counting
principles. With few exceptions, the SEC has
adhered to that policy. In consequence, the organized,
practicing profession has had immense opportunity—
and concomitant responsibility. However, the profes­sion
has not, I believe, recognized the scope of its
opportunity; therefore it has not fully realized its
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